All the Lies (Lies & Truths 1)

None of this adds up in my brain…or is it still trying to keep up with reality?

When I raise my eyes again, the kind Asian nurse isn’t speaking to me anymore. Her attention is on something—or rather, someone—over my head. “Congratulations on your fiancée’s recovery, Mr. Carson.”

“Thank you.”

My spine locks and a shiver shoots down my back, covering my entire body.

The rough, deep voice with the slight huskiness.

The nightmare voice.

The one who called me a monster and…something else.

There was something else, but I’ve forgotten what it was.

Hell, I’ve forgotten a lot of things.

I don’t even remember why I’m here, my age, or my damn name.

Everything is a blur. It’s like I can reach the answer, but the moment my fingertips brush against it, it turns into fog.

The nurse says something else, but I miss her words—again, my brain has trouble keeping up. Everything happens too fast, like in some futuristic show.

Wait, are we in a Black Mirror episode?

How do I even know Black Mirror and not my own life?

The last thing I focus on is the door hissing open then closed behind the nurse.

My throat chooses this exact moment to become scratchy and sour. I glance to the side, searching for water.

A bottle sits on a small table, and I reach my arm out to grab it.

Huge mistake.

Something in my right shoulder pops and pain explodes in my muscles. I groan and bite down on my lower lip to stifle the sound.

Pain is temporary. Pain is temporary.

Mom’s words echo in my head like a mantra.

I blink twice. I remember having a mother.

That’s the first thing I’ve remembered since waking up in this sterilized room.

“Look who returned to the world of the living.”

My movements freeze as that same voice echoes around me. I forgot he was still in the room in the first place.

I don’t hear the sound of footsteps or feel him approaching.

The attack is silent and fast. One moment I’m thinking the nightmare is a reality, and the next, a broad, tall figure looms over my bed.

You know that color a tropical forest has when it’s raining heavily? That’s the color of his eyes. Dark green, almost black.

Harsh.

Emotionless.